David C. Banks, the founding director of the Bronx School of Law, Government and Justice, said he believed Mrs. Porter would breathe new life into a system in which he said principals and teachers are tired and frustrated, not only because of the pandemic, but also because of the feeling that their views were often ignored by the City.
“She is not a reserved bureaucrat who speaks of canned responses,” said Banks, adding: “Meisha really tries to speak in a language that is real and transparent, and people understand her, which is why people are attracted to her. . “
“The question is,” he said, “will the mayor get out of the way and really allow her to be the leader of the school system and not just have the title of chancellor?”
Deputy Jamaal Bowman, a former principal at a high school in the Bronx who was elected to Congress last year, said he was “very happy” with Porter’s appointment, describing her as a “visionary” who “lives and breathe equality “.
“I am very excited about her addressing issues like the school-prison pipeline and bringing more focus on restorative justice in our schools, bringing more social workers and counselors than policemen into our schools, our schools being much more culturally responsive and anti-racist” , he said.
Mark Dunetz, president of New Visions for Public Schools, an organization that has started dozens of high schools across the city, said Ms. Porter “realizes that leading schools effectively requires meticulous work behind the scenes”
“As I watched her work, I realized that she really paid attention to the details of how the work is actually done by principals, teachers, counselors,” he said. “She never assumes that these details will resolve themselves.”